Strategy
by paganpunk2
Summary: A rainy-day game leads to a rainy-night tumble between the sheets.  Rated M for chap 2 slashiness.
1. Chapter 1

This will just be a short little piece, only two chapters. Chapter one is completely slash-free and can be read as a stand-alone, for those who are not into slashiness. Chapter two will be entirely slash and probably pretty naughty, just for my fellow Joe/Dex shippers. Reviews are wonderful, and make an author's day. Thanks for reading!

The rain pounded against the window to Sky Captain's office unrelentingly. "This is ridiculous," Dex said quietly.

"I'm going as fast as I can," Joe replied, his voice carrying a trace of annoyance. "You're going to win anyway, you always do." He frowned darkly at the board between them. "Bloody chess."

"I meant this letter is ridiculous, Cap. Not you."

"Oh." He glanced up apologetically. "Who is it from?"

"Dr. Kessler. He got a job teaching in Berlin, remember?"

"Right."

"Well, the government pulled him out of the university and put him to work developing bombs for the military."

Sky Captain's brow knitted as he looked up. "What, do you mean they forced him?"

"Yeah, I mean at least that's how it sounds."

"You're right, that's ridiculous. They never should have been left alone when they marched into Czechoslovakia. It should have been stopped then."

"You don't hear me disagreeing," Dex replied as he folded the letter and slipped it into his pocket. They were silent for a long minute, both staring at the board, lost in thought. "He said he doesn't think he's going to be able to get any other messages out."

"Mmm."

"I think it was supposed to be a warning." Their eyes met. "We're ready for a war, but I can't vouch for the rest of the world," he answered the unasked question in Joe's gaze.

"Damn. Here, your move." He nudged a pawn into a new space, then stood up and went to stare out the window. "Well, ready for a war or not, it sounds like the world might be fighting one soon enough."

"Yep. Check."

Sky Captain whirled around. "You moved already?" he sputtered, stomping back to the desk. "What…ugh."

"What about _your _war, Cap?" Dex asked a little teasingly.

He snorted. "I've quit that war. Pulled out all the troops and let her have the field. I'm done with her."

"Surprised I missed hearing you wave the white flag."

"I did it last night, at her place." He made his move.

"…You're kidding me."

"Yes, Dex, I know I shouldn't have dumped her right after we had sex, but I had to make sure I knew what I was doing, didn't I? I'm always more lucid right afterwards, it seemed like the right time."

"No, not that." He shook his head, staring at the game board. "That doesn't surprise me, believe it or not."

"You know me too well, then. I might have to kill you."

"Ha, ha," he said flatly. "Your move is what surprised me."

"Why? It's a perfectly legitimate strategy, Dex. I'm surprised you don't recognize it."

"You could have gotten out of check really easily, Cap."

"Yes. I know."

"So why did you knock all the pieces on to floor?"

"I told you, it's a perfectly legitimate strategy."

"What, just…wrecking the game?"

"Yes! I wasn't pleased with the way it was going, so I decided to destroy what was making me frustrated so that I could start all over again new."

"Do you have a name for this quote-unquote method?"

"I do. I call it the Totenkopf gambit."

Dex blinked at him, once, twice, a third time, an incredulous look dawning on his face just before he burst out laughing.


	2. Chapter 2

"How…how long did you work on that?" Dex gasped.

"Longer than I care to admit," Joe answered, chuckling.

"I wondered why you suggested we play. You _never_ want to play chess."

"That's because I'm terrible at it."

"I know it." His laughter lessened as he fell to his hands and knees and began to collect the chess men from the carpet. "Wow." As he reached to put the final piece on the desk, Sky Captain's fingers grabbed his tightly. "Hey," he mumbled, suddenly bashful. It had been some time since they'd done this, and he couldn't help but feel a little awkward.

"Hey yourself." Grinning, he pulled his engineer up and into his lap. "Didn't I tell you the war's over? I get to come home nights now."

"Yeah. I know. It's just always hard when you have to go out with another one, you know? I just…I know that day's coming again."

"Not for a while, Dex. Not for a long while. I can run off of Polly-time for a good six or seven months, at least, before anyone will start asking questions about why I haven't hooked up with someone else."

"Seven months…" He looked up at him finally. "Two hundred and ten nights?"

"All yours, love. All yours. Your bed for that long at least. Longer if I can manage." He kissed him needily. "I miss you so much when I'm with them."

"Mm. At least you get some when you're with them. You should bring them back here more often."

"Why, do you want to share?" Sky Captain teased.

"Of course not. But at least that way I can hear you through the wall and pretend it's _me_ you're moaning for."

"Oh, Dex, you have no idea how sexy that was," Joe hissed, squeezing him tightly.

"I think I have an idea, Cap," he argued, wiggling slightly against the hardness that had suddenly begun jabbing his thigh. "I might have an idea of how to fix it, too."

"Prove it," Sky Captain challenged, unbuttoning the other man's shirt as he spoke. He fastened his lips to the warm flesh just below his collarbone, where the mark wouldn't be visible when he was dressed, and sucked until a dark bruise blossomed.

"Here?"

"I can't walk right now, can you?"

"Aahhh…no."

"Here it is, then. Lock the door, would you?"

"I did when I came in earlier." He shoved his tongue into his partner's mouth with an unexpected violence, a faint taste of tobacco and coffee greeting his taste buds. When he pulled back to catch his breath, the fire in Sky Captain's eyes was burning far too brightly to be missed. "What?" he asked as the man stared at him.

"You really _did_ miss me," the pilot whispered.

"What, did you think I was making it up?"

"No, but…" He trailed off, wondering. Dex had never attacked him with so much ferocity before, had never been so forthcoming in his passion. Moaning sweetly and clawing at his back at bit near climax, those were things Joe expected from him, but there had been a level of greed in the engineer's actions that he had never seen. It was, he decided, remarkably arousing. "Dex?"

"Yes, Cap?" came the reply as the smaller man curled more tightly against him and licked the hollow at the base of his neck.

"Ohhh…" The boy knew his weak spots much too well, and he was loving every second of it. "I owe you an apology."

"Mmm…"

Joe steeled himself against the heat that sultry groan communicated. "I've been very unfair to you, running around with Polly all these months and not tossing you so much as a mercy fuck."

"'Sokay…here now…" His mouth was performing miracles between words, miracles that made it exceedingly difficult for Sky Captain to speak coherently.

"It's _not_ okay, Dex," he said as firmly as the hand gripping his erection through his pants would allow him to. "Let me make it up to you?"

He looked up then, his fingers falling to stillness as he tried to puzzle out just what was meant by that question. "Joe?" he whispered finally, giving up on reading the other man's mind.

"If you aren't naked and on that couch inside of thirty seconds, I'll rip whatever you're still wearing right off of you."

"Whatever you say, Cap," Dex grinned. Then, standing and moving just far enough away that he could be fully seen but not touched, he began to strip.


End file.
